Burswood defence

The Western Australian opposition has questioned whether the Coalition government was acting appropriately when it wiped $30 million off the price of land for
Crown
’s $568 million new hotel at Burswood.

Department of Premier and Cabinet director general Peter Conran told a parliamentary committee hearing yesterday part of the discount was an incentive and took into account future revenue streams. The ABC reported he told the hearing the size of the discount on the land, originally valued at $95 million, was appropriate. WA Premier Colin Barnett had previously said $30 million was the cost of remediating the site, as it was formerly landfill.

Opposition treasury spokesman Ben Wyatt said the Premier needed to detail the size of the incentive. “Colin Barnett needs to be a lot more transparent about exactly how and why Crown got a $30 million discount on a public asset."

Earlier this week Mr Barnett confirmed he had rebuffed a request from Crown chairman James Packer and Westfield founder Frank Lowy to build a high-end shopping centre on the Burswood Peninsula.